Hunting for the Underworld
Aether stood outside of his guild hall, with Miriam next to him. "He's almost here, I can sense him." "What do you think he wants to talk about?" "I've heard he's been hunting the Bellona Alliance." The two guild-masters of the Dragon Gunfire guild, both past and present, would have felt the temperatures around them suddenly plummet, all the more evidence that he was coming in their direction. What greeted them was a chilled breeze; from it emerged a man bearing azure hair, pale skin and a dark colored outfit, his hands in the pockets of his trousers as he traversed the long hallway leading up to them with one step after the other. As he came before them, he lowered the woolen collar from his nose, setting it to fall around his neck, as he made to speak. His mustard gaze fell upon Aether. "Are you, by any chance, the one known as 'Aether Cade'?" "I am," answered Aether, exuding his own magic aura, causing the area to warm up considerably. "You must be Silvius Alvar. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand for a handshake. "Aye, likewise." He took ahold of the boy's hand with a firm grasp, offering it a subtle shake. "Very good, seems as though my travels have led me to the correct place," said Silvius, before glancing toward Miriam and saluting her with a bit of a nod. "Listen, as much as I enjoy exchanges of friendship, I'm going to cut straight to the chase here... what do you know about Othrys?" "Othrys, we defeated them at their Capitol a few months ago, but they seem to have already gotten back on their feet. They split up their main army into six divisions, led by the Six Titans of War. They're all S-Class level. But above them are the Cardinals, four exceptionally powerful and skilled mages that are ace level. And leading the whole show is Cronus Saturnalia. I defeated him in single combat, but barely, and almost lost my humanity." "What now? You mean to tell me that you've already defeated the man I'm after in battle?" His cold expression waddled into a smug grin. "Interesting... so in other words, by facing you here now, I'll have a good estimation behind this "Cronus" character's strength." There was no further warning. Silvius rose his leg, sending a kick toward Aether's stomach, who would have been no more than an arm's length away from him, whilst also claiming the element of surprise for his own taking. Aether lifted up his arm, coated in his plasma, blocking Silvius' strike. "Cronus was faster." The cold temperatures occupying Silvius' leg would have been enough to counter the brisk, yet subtle plasmic defense pieced together by Aether. "Was he now? I'm glad!" His body flickered out of comprehension, before reappearing at Aether's flank outlined by a verdant surge of magical energy. Without a second to lose, he grunted forth, unleashing a swift palm to Aether's backside, while the temperatures about his body plummeted in preparation to yet again counter any potential shortcomings of plasma. Recognizing how little damage his standard plasma did, Aether greatly increased the heat. Quickly turning around and delivering a punch to Silvius' attack in order to burn his hand, and deter any further attacks. The mustard gaze that which defined Silvius remained alert, carefully processing Aether's every move like a machine. His palm lacing forth, Silvius met Aether's fist accordingly, the verdant energy from around his frame working its way into the boy's soul. A measure of defense transfused into a vicious offense, it was one of Silvius' most noteworthy maneuvers; it was the casting of Regalia, a spell that crippled his opponents beyond belief. What Aether would have experienced among other unfortunate realities was the thinning of his defenses to being akin to that of a sheet of paper; his own attacks being reduced to the trickle of a feather; his reflexes disdained to the level of an aged tortoise. Hooking his fingers around Aether's fist, Silvius established a firm grasp over his opponent. Aether would be forced to witness, with his own eyes, the disaster that was his beloved plasmic attribution be rendered null by the forces of Silvius' ice. At a quickened pace did the ice creep up to his shoulder, before looking to devour his entire being in a block of ice that would have left him immobilized. Were he to so much attempt escape, through the means of a physical or magical basis, he would find that it were now virtually impossible, for Silvius had taken to him like an insect caught within a horrid trap. However unfortunate, Aether had taken the bait. Standing his ground, Silvius watched as Aether's body was coated into a block of ice before his eyes. Throughout the process, he kept his other senses sharp, so as to avoid a surprise attack from other members of the guild, such as Aether's beloved mother who had been watching from the background. Aether recognized the trouble he was in. He coated his entire body in his plasma armor, capable of melting the ice, and pushing away attacks with its rotation spot. However this only left the two in a stalemate. Aether tapped the ground, and several spires of earth erupted from the ground, attempting to send him into the air with the force, or at least force Silvius to retreat. However hot it may have been, due to the effects of Regalia, the plasma would never again be able to contend with Silvius' ice, at least, not until the effects of the spell had worn off completely. Aether found his attempt to conceal the entirety of his being in that very same plasma to be to no avail, for it did little, if anything, to combat the ice that was taking control of his body. Still yet, Aether had been clever, even Silvius had to admit that much. Seeing as though he had been weakened, the sly guild-master had turned to using the environment in his stead. Without forgoing his grip on Aether, Silvius leapt into the air, taking to the skies as the many spires molded from the earth below had sought his blood, thereby taking the boy along with him. "Was that really the smartest thing to do? I mean, you're making a mess of your own guild; and on top of that, your mother's right there," Silvius said, somewhat baffled by Aether's sudden desperation. Dragging him by his wrist, Silvius took Aether higher and higher into the skies, until the world beneath was obscured by clouds and whole city plains looked as though they were mere building blocks. "Given your current state, you won't survive a drop from this level; not when I'll be following you every step of the way to ensure you hit the ground. What do you say we call it quits?" Silvius' mustard gaze once more fell upon his victim, who by now, would have almost completely been overtaken by the many layers of ice corroding his body. "Will you throw in the towel, Aether-san?" "I'm not one for quitting," said Aether. His eyes turned a crimson red as his power doubled. His aura glowed like the sun as he unleashed the power he used to defeat Cronus. The plasma he used grew in heat every second until the ice melted. "Enough!" called Miriam from below. "You will unhand my son at once. Unless you wish to have me join in on this fight as well!" Miriam's aura grew a large beige. All nearby pedestrians cowered in fear at her immense magic power. "You make a very bad first impression Mr. Alvar!" His mustard gaze shifting to Miriam, Silvius knew he had gone a bit too far. He lowered down back to the surface of the guild hall, releasing Aether from his grasp. "You've given me more information than I could've asked for; and for that, I thank you." He offered Aether one last glance, before beginning to set off. "Offer my condolences to your mother." Just as quickly as he had arrived, he had left.